Clasping
Max’s smaller hand in his own, Kasan eyed his consort as they
walked. He could see pale thighs flashing from the sides of
the
tunic as Max tried to keep up, and it was more than enough to catch
Kasan’s interest, especially when a few beads of sweat began to
decorate Max’s skin. Kasan swallowed and glanced away. He
couldn’t stop and lick Max clean at the moment, as much as he would
love to.

And dear God but he would love
to. With no more
than a moment’s thought, he could envision Max raving incoherently
while Kasan laved the soft flesh between his thighs. It was far too
easy to imagine the salty taste of Max’s cock on his tongue, the swells
of his bottom when Kasan held them in his palms and pulled him close,
the sound of Max’s alien babbling when he was tics away from coming –
Kasan turned a corner of the hall and stopped, panting.

He
felt
Max’s eyes drop down to where Kasan’s erection strained the fabric of
his loincloth. It was rather sweet how quickly the little one turned
his face away, looking frantically around the hallway as though trying
to pretend Kasan’s groin didn’t exist. Not that he would have fooled
anyone, not with his face as going as red as a berry.

Kasan
crushed the collar in his hand to keep from reaching out for his
consort – nearly impossible, these days. Dammit, he had to stop
thinking like this, even if Max’s lithe body did
invade his senses every few minutes. They had to get to Firstmeal.
Kasan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When that didn’t help, he
relaxed his hand and rubbed his fingers together over the velvet collar
and leash. The strange fuzz combined with the cold metal clasp brought
his body to heel enough to start moving again.

It
was only for
one day, he reminded himself. Leero was going to be stuck in
Service for an entire month. One day really wasn’t all that bad.
Although Leero didn’t have five brothers waiting to pack in as much
humiliation during his Service as they possibly could.

Not
that Leero would escape them, either, of course. They’d happily torment
the both of them.

So, again, one day wasn’t too bad,
all things considered.

He
glanced down at Max to see how he was doing. The color still filled his
cheeks, and Max’s hair fluttered in front of his face. The little man
glared at it as he walked, shoving it out of the way with his free
hand. He looked so disgruntled that Kasan smothered a smile. That
expression was becoming almost as familiar as Max’s scent. When Max
growled under his breath as his bangs fell in his eyes again, Kasan
reached out to help. He paused when a murmur rumbled down the corridor:
the guards outside the dining room’s doors.

He'd
mooned over Max so much that they’d arrived before he’d even realized.

His
ears lowered just enough to be noticeable, his hand dropped, and the
murmur grew louder. He saw Shoru, his cousin Waran’s consort,
griping to the other guard; Kasan grimaced. The man’s sour
frown
was the only expression a person saw when they met Shoru for the first
time, and it didn’t improve any on subsequent meetings. Everyone would
be glad when the heat no longer bound Waran and Shoru, and the
unpleasant bastard left and went back to his own people.

About
to walk by the two guards, Kasan caught the disgusted look Shoru aimed
at Max. He growled low in his throat. If Shoru said one
thing to upset Max, Kasan was going to let out his claws until the man
bled. He kept an eye on him, but other than a sneering grunt, the man
held his tongue. The other guard smiled at Max broadly as
though
trying to offset Shoru’s rudeness.

It seemed to
work; Max was
smiling back, at least. Although with Shoru guarding the
Firstmeal doors today, Kasan didn’t want to stay outside the doors and
chat, even if it might have won him a few more minutes of freedom
before the meal. With a heavy sigh, Kasan urged Max into the room,
hoping they were early so he could be done as quickly as possible – and
pick some obscure corner where he could at least hope that not all his
brothers could get to him at once.

He
saw an appropriate
table as soon as he walked in, just big enough for three. He had one
moment to enjoy the sight before he realized it was too late.
Jolan and Aosh were already waiting to ambush him on either side of the
door. As soon as he saw them, they smiled broadly, the
bruises on
their faces twisting to make the expressions as much a brotherly
promise of humiliation as a greeting.

“How lovely to see you
here at Firstmeal, Kasan.” Jolan put his hand on Kasan’s arm as he
spoke.

“And
your shiny, new consort as well.” Aosh’s attempt to put his hand on
Kasan’s consort ended as Max shifted to the side. Max
stumbled
slightly, his body bumping up against Kasan, and the little one
clutched at him to keep from falling. Kasan used the
opportunity
to wrap his arm around Max’s shoulders. His claws flickered
out
in warning and Aosh took a quick step back.

“I’m
sure you don’t want to keep us waiting. We saved you a
place,”
Jolan said, tugging at his arm. Kasan’s ears went flat as he
saw
the rest of his siblings and their consorts at the nearest, and
largest, table. He would have yanked free, except he noticed
Tisu
watching from his cushion at the table.

His
brothers would have no scruples about forcing him to join them.

Glancing
at Max, whose body was tense as he watched them all carefully, Kasan
didn’t protest. Max had been through enough the past day; he and his
high-strung nerves didn’t need to witness another brawl. Kasan wasn’t
letting anything
upset Max today.

Kasan
smiled, willing it to look normal and hoping his ears wouldn’t give him
away. Max wasn’t completely fooled; he still leaned against Kasan as
though he were seeking comfort.

“Come along now,
Kasan,” Jolan said. “I would hate for you to have to go through your
Service alone, after all.”

“I
would rather slide down the mountain on my face than have breakfast
with you this morning, Jolan,” Kasan said in a friendly
sounding drawl.

“I bet you
would. How disappointing that you’ll have to avoid such an improvement
to
your looks and spend the rest of the day with us, instead.”

“Only if Max wants to. I’m in Service to him today, not to
the rest of you.”

Jolan
and Aosh both stared at Max – Kasan thought that if the man had furred
ears, they would have instantly wilted with nerves – and then they
glanced at each other with another smile.

“I bet we
can persuade him to give you to us for a little while,” Aosh
said. He licked his lips. “I can be very persuasive.”

“If
you try and persuade Max with anything other than a polite question, I
will tie a knot in your cock,” Kasan said softly. He tried to keep it
light, but Max tensed anyway. It might be due to the fact
that
Kasan’s tail accidentally hit the little one in the back as it twitched
violently.

“Kasan, I wouldn’t-“

“Aosh,
stop bothering Kasan,” Zonta called out.

Aosh
grumbled under his breath but left them both to return to the table. It
would have been nice if Jolan did the same, but he refused to
relinquish his grip until Kasan was standing at the table.

Kasan
made sure he sat down with Max kneeling between himself and Zonta; his
youngest brother would help him relax, if he could protect the little
one’s other side. And it didn’t hurt that Kasan had taken Jolan’s seat
before his brother sat down, so Jolan had to move to another side of
the table with Ko.

Kasan took what pleasure he could
in the
small irritation. He’d better; he didn’t have much time before he
wouldn’t be able to do a damn thing to them.

Not that it would distract him from what was really
important.

With
a smile, Kasan looked down at Max. “Max, are you good?” Max nodded just
as Kasan patted Max’s thigh below the tunic. The soft, curling hairs on
his consort’s leg brushed against his fingertips. Nice, but not as
attractive as the suddenly straining loincloth or Max’s pink face.
Kasan couldn’t stop a grin. He would never get tired of how
quickly the man reacted. “Mmmm, Max not good, Max happy.”

“Max
is not happy.
Max is hungry.”
Max’s attempts at looking offended failed miserably as Kasan slipped
his hand up higher and the tips of his fingers brushed over the cloth
covering Max’s groin. His consort’s hips jerked and Max inhaled so
quickly that he started to choke. He was the focus of every
eye
at the table by the time he recovered.

Max sunk low
into the cushions when he realized how many people were watching, his
face scarlet.

With
a soothing purr, Kasan curled his tail around Max’s waist, smoothing
the fabric of his tunic with delicate strokes. Poor little thing. Max’s
flush spread, disappearing into his neckline as the tip of Kasan’s tail
brushed over his stomach. His scent grew just aroused enough to
detect. Kasan’s tail paused and then the tip began twirling
lower. If Max were interested enough, he might be willing to ‘order’
Kasan back to the bedroom. And after that-

”Kasan,”
Jolan said from across the table. Kasan deliberately
stiffened
his ears as he looked up at him, his tail clamping tight around
Max. If he were lucky, Jolan would be worried enough about
what
that meant that he might leave entirely. “The dishes are
arriving.”

“Hmm.” He pretended not to look; Max was
far more
interesting to watch than bright bits of pottery placed on the table.
And Kasan would much rather focus on his consort than on what the newly
arrived food represented.

Tisu leaned over the
table, grinning widely. “Firstmeal has officially
started. Time to Serve, big brother.”

To
add to the humiliation of the moment, Kasan’s face heated – visibly, he
was sure, based on his brothers’ reactions. He gained a few seconds as
he looked around as though to make sure they weren’t making it up. It
was a small insult, but anything he could use today without actively
going against his Service was something he was grabbing with both
hands. A few of the farther tables had dishes covering them
with
color and steam; his cousins working in the kitchens today had already
gone back for more.

Jolan cleared his
throat loudly and
Kasan spared him a glare before he looked at the red collar and leash
he’d piled on the table in a pyramid of velvet. He reached
out
and nudged it with his fingers, then nearly jumped when a small hand
reached out and did the same.

“What on
top?” Max stared at the bright velvety ribbon with a fascination that
was entirely different from Kasan’s.

“What’s on the
table? That’s a Service collar, Gisho.”

Max
glanced up and then back at it. “Service collar.”

“Or
a Fuck-me collar,” Tisu said.

Aosh wasn’t the only
one to laugh as Max tried to repeat Tisu’s words as well.

“Why
do they call it a fuck-me collar, anyway?” Roto asked. “It’s not as
though you can force someone to actually have sex when they’re in
Service.” Tisu flushed a little and cleared his throat. It was
gratifying that the man was paying for being an ass.

“It’s
because Kasan has to bend over whenever we ask him-” Aosh grunted
mid-sentence. Kasan looked over in time to see a narrow-eyed Zonta move
his elbow away from his brother’s stomach.

“Don’t
even
start in on him, Aosh,” Zonta said with a sharper tone than Kasan
usually heard. “I know you were up to something this
morning.”

Aosh
stiffened as Zonta stared at him. His brother was practically sweating
at the look in Zonta’s eyes. It was too bad that Jolan interrupted;
seeing Aosh intimidated by his twin was always enjoyable.

“Oh,
Kasan? Collar, still on the table. The elders will make you wish you
could crawl back into mother’s womb if you don’t get it taken care of.”

Zonta’s
eyes let go of Aosh and glanced over. Kasan didn’t want to acknowledge
either the worried look or the obnoxious comment, but Jolan was
right. Not putting on his Service collar at the proper time
would
be cutting his own throat. He didn’t need to find himself in
worse trouble than he already was.

That was even
more of a concern after this morning’s battle in the communications
room, if anyone found out about it.

Kasan
grimaced and picked up the collar, the soft fabric tangling on Max’s
fingers. Zonta smiled at Max as the man mumbled to himself while he
tried to unwrap them. Yanking every time there was the smallest bit of
slack, Max ended up with a bigger tangle than ever before Kasan managed
to free him.

Kasan wondered if the poor man was
going to ever get rid of that flush this
morning.

He
lifted the thick ribbon off the table and paused. Breathing
deeply, Kasan rubbed a hand over the smooth skin of his throat. He was
glad he’d been in such a hurry this morning to get to the vid room that
he’d never put on his torque. With a low growl he couldn’t stop, he
fastened the heavy velvet collar around his neck with a small click as
the clasp hooked onto the other side.

The
thinner band
of velvet that made up the leash hung down, tickling his
chest.
It was an unpleasant sensation that he’d managed to avoid aside from a
few rare occasions, but the merest brush of it against his skin had his
ears down flat enough to disappear into his hair.

God,
he hated
Service. Jolan started chatting with his consort as though nothing
momentous had just happened, a deliberate pause, Kasan knew, because
the man lived to be a pain in the ass at times like this.
Kasan
growled again, repressing it as he wasn’t allowed to lash out at anyone
for the rest of the day, now, and he looked down to avoid seeing at any
of his brothers.

His
gaze collided with
Max’s. Max stared up at him, his eyes nervous while he chewed on his
lower lip in that endearing way he had. His eyes flipped from
the
collar to Kasan’s face and the furrow between his brows
deepened.
Kasan could nearly see the wheels in his consort’s mind turning as he
tried to figure out what was going on. The little one’s eyes
went
rapidly through all the people at the table, trying to gauge their
reactions, and came back to his looking just as confused.

Kasan
didn’t think that handing the end of the leash to Max would calm him
any, but Kasan had an obligation. Taking Max’s hand in his
own,
Kasan placed the leash in it, the stark red reminding him of the bloody
wounds he’d want to make on Jolan and Tisu – probably Aosh too – by the
end of the day. He closed Max’s fingers over the lead and
then
released his hands.

Max looked down at the leash in
his hand and dropped it back onto the table like a live wire.

“I
don’t even want to know what game this is, Kasan, but you can count me
out. I’m not playing some cat S & M thing!
Or… pet
kitty. Or…” Max’s eyes stared at the collar and ran down
Kasan’s chest, following the lead. “Damn. You look like you should
be on Playgirl or something,”
Max muttered, and Kasan could see his throat work as he swallowed
heavily. His pupils widened and the scent of arousal jumped
up a
notch.

Kasan picked up the end of the leash again
and put it back into Max’s hand. “Max, hold this.
Please.”

Max
look at him and would have dropped it again if Kasan hadn’t kept his
fingers wrapped around Max’s to keep them closed. The little
man
started babbling again and Kasan couldn’t think of a damn thing to help
him.

“That’s
unfair, Aosh,” Zonta said, defending Max where Kasan couldn’t. “Just
think how you’d feel if you were the only one of your kind in an entire
planet.”

“I doubt I’d flatten my ears as often as he
does.” Aosh
looked at Max, tilting his head before he shook it and
smiled.
“Although I don’t think I’d look as cute doing it as he does,
either. Maybe I’d do it more often if I could pull off
‘frantic
and sexy’ half so well.”

“You are impossible when
you get like
this, you know that? You act as though Max is doing it on purpose.”
Zonta’s face was becoming flushed as he glared at his brother. “He’s
scared. How else is he going to act? And besides, for all we know,
leashes could have some negative connotation where he’s from.”

Aosh
nodded, placating. “You could be right. I imagine Max has probably worn
a lot of collars in his time – plays off that delicacy of his nicely, I
would think.” Aosh grinned teasingly in response to Zonta’s renewed
glare.

Jolan spoke before he could say anything,
however. “Actually, I can see what you mean. He would
look sexy with a little collar and a leash. Kasan’s pet
human,
ready to service him whenever he needed.” Jolan and a few of the others
grinned.

Kasan wanted to growl at them, but he was
too focused
on the image Max kneeling naked on the bed with only a red velvet band
around his throat, the leash of it resting in Kasan’s hand.
God.
He had never so desperately wanted his heat to spike so that he could
head back to their room.

Jolan’s
consort, Ko,
interrupted the fantasy. “I don’t think Max is the only one who’d look
sexy in a collar.” Ko stared straight at Jolan. Jolan’s eyes widened
and color crept up his neck.

Kasan
thought Ko might very well be looking for some velvet ribbons later
today, knowing him. It almost made Service worthwhile, just to know his
oldest brother was going to be paying for it. Although the
fact
that Jolan would climax at the end of his play took some of the fun out
of it, but not much.

There was a moment of quiet as
Ko smiled wickedly at his mate.

“Maybe
Max simply doesn’t know what to do with the leash,” Zonta said slowly.
Kasan wondered if his youngest brother had even really heard what Jolan
and Ko had been saying or if he’d been thinking about Max since he’d
reprimanded Aosh.

Aosh’s ears perked up as soon as
he heard Zonta. Kasan wished terribly that he could respond to whatever
was coming.

“Max?”

Max
turned his head to look at Aosh suspiciously while his hand clamped
down on the lead of its own volition. His body leaned back
into
Kasan’s until their legs touched.

Aosh
smiled. “Are you wondering about the collar and leash, little
one? I can tell you all
about it. Kasan has been a bad, bad boy, and he needs to be
punished for it.”

“A
spanking would be good,” Ko said with a smirk, and Aosh snickered.
Kasan took back any good thoughts he’d had on Ko’s perverted behavior.

Max
looked at them both with that strange combination of blank staring and
focused attention that Kasan was beginning to figure out meant he was
listening, but really didn’t have much idea what they were saying. Ko
directed his next words to Zonta. “We should really put
‘Kasan
needs a good spanking’ on the short list of words Max needs to learn
right away.”

“Ko!” Zonta’s cheeks flared.

Kasan
heard Aosh mumble to Zonta under the volume of Ko’s laughter, “How
someone who masturbates as much as you do can still blush…”
Zonta
must have heard as well because he glared at him again and his older
twin turned a bit frantically to talk to Max as though he hadn’t said a
word.

“Instead of a spanking, you could make Kasan
carry you around all day like a little.”

Actually,
it might be fun to carry his consort around, feel the supple strength
of his body within Kasan’s hands. Maybe…

Nolluz
spoke up in a peevish voice. “My research quarters need a thorough
cleaning. If you let me borrow Kasan for a few hours, he
could do
that.”

“Or
you could make him clean the piss rooms of the
entire wing," Tisu said. "That always does a good job making Service
hit
home.”

Kasan clenched his jaw, not allowed to say
a word as
the suggestions for his Service grew filthier and more disgusting as
they ran around the table. Roto was the only exception,
wondering
how well Kasan might be able to plant some flowers, but that was met
with such laughter that Roto gave up.

Kasan
tried to
remain unmoved, especially as Max glanced at him after each comment by
one of his brothers or their consorts. As hard as he tried,
though, Kasan’s ears wouldn’t do anything but flatten, and the fur on
his tail bristled where it encircled Max’s waist. Max pressed closer,
the entire side of his body flush against Kasan, his hands clutching
the leash tightly. When even that didn’t seem to help and Max’s scent
began to change, Kasan got set to blast them all for making his consort
frightened, whether or not it would extend his Service.

Zonta
beat him to it. “Max seems really upset, Jolan. We should stop.”

Jolan
took a look at Max and sighed as he saw how Max huddled against
Kasan. “We can wait until Max is a little bit more acclimated
to
Kasan in a collar.” He grinned at a silent Kasan with sharp
teeth. “Like maybe at an hour. We wouldn’t want you
to be
too bored today.”

Kasan glared at him.
Quivering, Max
watched everyone’s reactions nervously. Kasan reached up a hand to
brush gently over his hair. He smiled when it wasn’t moved
away.

A
small issue, maybe, but even those were important. The steps that
mattered toward a joining were often the smallest – that’s what they
always said, anyway.

His
brothers began talking
amongst themselves normally again while Kasan continued to stroke Max’s
hair. Ko dragged Jolan over to go try a new dish two tables
over.
When Max finally began to relax, rubbing the velvet leash between his
fingers rather than crushing it, Zonta started talking to Kasan again.

“He’s
much calmer today, isn’t he?” Zonta asked quietly.

“Yeah.”
Kasan wondered how quickly he could make the little one lose that calm
if he started licking him again.

“Wore him out last
night, eh?” Aosh asked

Kasan
winced. It figured Aosh would have caught that. It was nice that Max
was feeling safe enough for the moment that he didn’t tense as Aosh
spoke, however. The little one’s eyes went to the food as the
servers added more dishes to the table.

Zonta
chewed on bundle
of steamed leaves. “I know Aosh is teasing, but you might
want to
be careful about that. I couldn’t find any records on human
sexual habits, and none of the archivists knew of any. I’m not certain
how much his body can take. If he’s so exhausted that he
isn’t
reacting normally any more...”

“It’s not fatigue. At
least, I
don’t believe so. We came to an understanding. I managed to
explain a few things last night that helped.”

“Do
tell.” Aosh smiled broadly when Kasan glanced at him across the
table. “And I mean that literally. Do tell.”

It
wasn’t personal enough for Kasan to have the right to refuse, although
it was definitely skirting the edges. Aosh was too slick to
screw
up in that regard.

Kasan repressed an
irritated snarl –
something he knew he’d be doing most of the day. “Max knows about the
nanites now. It made it easier for him when the heat spiked
last
night.”

Nolluz cleared his throat next to Aosh,
shaking his head sadly as though Kasan were the most deluded fool he’d
ever met. “You
managed to inform your consort of the existence of our nanites and the Kouloc, where
neither Zonta nor I would know the proper terms? I highly doubt it.”

Kasan
grit his teeth. No snapping, no angry words, he reminded
himself…and his claws. He swallowed down the anger and coiled
it
in a hard ball in his belly.

He could
hold back now. As long as he used his anger and funneled it into
thinking of what he was going to do to Nolluz after Service had
ended. After all, retaliatory pranks were acceptable…as long as he
didn’t get caught.

“I
used one of the hand comps and drew him a picture. It wasn’t that
difficult to get my point across.” Kasan was proud there was
only
a hint of irritation in his voice.

Aosh choked on
his water,
spewing it over the table. Nolluz started coughing on his own
food while Neera and Zonta bit their lips. Tisu started
laughing
heavily. Roto tried to smile but it ended in a nervous little
giggle.

Aosh was the first to start
speaking. “You
drew him a picture? I’m not surprised he’s calmer today,
then. He probably thinks no one else is here, now that he’s
been
blinded by your artistic talent.”

“What
talent? Kasan
doesn’t have any artistic talents. He’s got an artistic
curse.”
Jolan said, stepping back up to the table with Ko. Kasan
should
have know he couldn’t stay away too long.

Kasan
reached for his food and tried to ignore them. It was the
only thing he could do, after all.

“That’s
not fair,” Zonta said quietly, his lips twitching. “Kasan’s
art
isn’t that…bad.” He choked on the last word and Aosh pointed at him
triumphantly.

“Ha! Even you can’t say that
with a straight
face! The last time he drew a picture of father it looked
like a
bilious lizard attempting to molest himself with a plate of sausages.”

“That
was a long time ago,” Zonta countered.

“It was last
year.”

“I’ll
admit, I’m still scarred from the memory,” Jolan added, seating himself
near Kasan again. “I can’t see sausages without shuddering.”
He
looked at the plate near him and pushed it away with an ostentatious
grimace.

Kasan rolled his eyes; his art wasn’t that
bad. It
simply wasn’t all that good. That didn’t mean he couldn’t inform with
his drawing, if the need arose. Irritated, he tried to change the
subject. Even in Service, he still had some things he needed to get
done.

“Zonta? Do you think you could help
teach Max some more Hinta today? “

Zonta’s
ears popped up as his eyes brightened. “Of course. I don’t
think
there would be any trouble with pausing on my studies for a day to help
out the little one.”

Nolluz straightened in his
seat, his lips
pursing. “You haven’t even asked. You shouldn’t
presume
that simply because you think
it will be fine that I will allow you to skip your studi– ow!”

His
consort, Neera, smiled at him and pulled back her elbow. “You
go
ahead and help Max. Nolluz can work on his own today. Kasan’s
consort seems to trust you, so I think that would be a fine
idea.
Don’t you, dear?”

Nolluz stared once into the bright
smile and
hard eyes of his consort and nodded after only a moment’s
pause.
“Of course. That would be lovely.”

The topic changed
to more
serious items after a few more small comments: Shovak’s crimes, how the
family was taking it, whether the news packets had contained anything
of interest. Kasan and most of his brothers went silent on the latter
when one of their uncles at another table wondered about the technical
difficulty that had delayed the news.

And then Kasan
lost track
of the conversation as he realized Max wasn’t eating. After taking a
few nibbles himself to show it was good to eat, he handed Max a small
violet petal in oil. The man pushed it away, and then refused the small
sausage he was offered next, and even a leaf and berry dish.

Kasan
was glad he’d swallowed his own leaves or he would have choked as he
realized what Max was worried about. “No, no sex food, Max.
Good
food.”

Max took a bit of coaxing,
including Kasan
popping a small fried blossom into his mouth, before he started going
after the dishes voluntarily. When nothing happened to his
body
after a few bites, Max began eating steadily with his small hands
flitting from dish to dish.

As amusing as watching
him was,
though, Kasan felt like he was waiting for the next hailstone to fall.
There was a subtle tension building at the table. Combine
that
with the fact that his brothers weren’t done teasing him and it didn’t
bode well for his peace of mind.

He knew
he wouldn’t
have been done teasing them if they’d
been in Service. They weren’t going to be any easier on him,
that was for sure.

Especially
not Aosh. It wasn’t often that his younger brother was able
to
tease him without fear of retaliation. And something about Aosh’s tone
of voice, or maybe the quivering of his ears, drew Kasan’s attention.
He was only talking about Roto’s last visit to family in one of the
outlying areas, but still. This was Aosh. One should usually
be
ready for about anything, with Jolan and Aosh involved.

“Tisu
mentioned you saw Akam this time,” Aosh said around a mouth of
food.

There. Wasn’t Aosh’s voice a
little louder than normal?

Roto nodded absently,
taking a drink before he answered. “When he was visiting Uncle Rilan
before the hunt.”

Aosh smiled slyly; it was enough
to send tension slithering over Kasan’s skin. “Did I hear
right that you saw all
of him.”

Roto
giggled once before covering his mouth and nodding. “He
spiked
while we were there, and they forgot to lock the patio door.”
Roto flushed and giggled again. “Akam’s a lot more flexible than I
thought.”

Aosh’s eyes slid to Kasan for the briefest
moment before he continued talking.

“So…is it true,
then?”

Roto looked at him blankly, taking another
sip of his water. “Is what true?”

“You know what.”
Aosh’s voice was leading.

Tisu pulled Roto against
his side. “Aosh, don’t mess with Roto.”

“I’m
not. I’m just curious if Roto noticed Akam’s size, that’s
all.”

Roto
perked up, his face brightening. He leaned forward, barely
noticing as Tisu sighed in resignation and let go of his
shoulders. “Yes! Oh my God, you should have
seen!
He’s almost twice as big as he was when he used to live here!”

Zonta’s
ears quivered. “He didn’t look like he’d gained weight the
last time I saw him.”

Zonta glanced between him and Roto, his ears
twitching thoughtfully, before he finally shrugged.

Aosh
sniggered again. “Nanites, dear. You’ve seen the size of Akam’s consort
haven’t you? The man is almost as big as Tisu, and Akam barely Roto’s
size. Poor cousin probably didn’t have the surface area on his dick for
enough nanites to get across the skin to his consort when he was
pounding away,” Aosh leaned closer, his tongue curling around the words
like a sweet candy, ”so his cock grew to compensate for the size
difference.”

Zonta stared at him, his cheeks flushed
even while
he swallowed. “I-I suppose it’s p-possible, but that type of
size
change seems a bit…extreme, compared to some of other changes nanites
have made that we’re aware of.”

Roto gestured
excitedly across
the table. “No, I saw it! Akam is HUGE now! I had a
really
good…” Roto paused and giggled one last time. “A really good
angle, if you know what I mean? Akam’s dick is amazing!”

Aosh
nodded smugly. “You’re always going on about how much the
nanites
do to make the bond work, Zonta. Stretching the muscles,
dealing
with infertility issues, correcting erectile dysfunction…it shouldn’t
be that much of a surprise. Although it does beg the question, doesn’t
it?” Aosh smiled and turned to Kasan.

Aw
shit, Kasan thought, here it comes. He knew it was going to
be something.

“Since we know nanites adjust mates to
match their consorts - just how small is
your dick now,
Kasan?”

Kasan
growled in place of putting his head in his hands, and he closed his
eyes as Aosh’s teasing set off another round by his brothers.
Max
didn’t seem to be paying as much attention now that he was eating, at
least. This time, though, Zonta didn’t have a prayer of
stopping
it. They were all on a roll.

Kasan
wrapped his
tail tighter around Max’s waist, flattened his ears to block as much of
the sound as he could, and concentrated on eating.

It
went on
long enough that Kasan wondered if they might make it through the meal
with nothing more than teasing – a good thing considering the beginning
of the day – when there was an irritated clearing of a throat.

Leero
stood behind him, the man’s cheeks as flushed as Kasan’s as he stood
with his collar on and the leash looped intricately down his chest
before weaving back into the clasp. Leero had such dark
shadows
under his eyes that they seemed to glow in contrast – the man looked
like he hadn’t slept in days.

Leero
might as well have shouted; everyone was sitting in silence as they
watched the both of them with rabid curiosity.

Leero
lowered his voice even further. His ears were stiff as he stared over
their heads rather than meet anyone’s eyes. “You need to
introduce Max to the elders now.”

Kasan
stood before his
brothers could interrupt and scooped Max as he rose. Max yelled out,
dropping the handful of roasted vegetables he’d been holding.
It
was unfortunate, and a bit rude to leave the mess for those who had
kitchen duty today, but the faster Kasan got away from his brothers,
the better off he’d be. He’d have to make it up to the servers later.
He turned while Max jabbered at him irritably, shoving at his arm and
his chest.

“I’ll let you down soon,
Gisho.” Kasan kept his
voice down as he took a step away from the table. He winced
in
sympathy as he heard Jolan speaking to Leero behind him.

“I’m
surprised you and father showed up today.” Jolan’s voice wasn’t raised
exceptionally high, but it was still clear enough to hear from a table
or two away.

“It’s Firstmeal.” Kasan could
practically hear Leero rolling his eyes as he readied himself for
whatever Jolan had planned.

“That
doesn’t mean anything. There’s been plenty of times father missed
Firstmeal, or sent someone to grab him a bite or two. And I
would
have thought you’d still be attending to your duties. In the
bedroom. Or didn’t father have any Services for you to
perform last night?”

Kasan
stopped dead and had to turn back to look. Smiling wickedly, Jolan had
leaned forward into Leero’s space, and Kasan could see his friend’s
profile as the man flushed as red as the velvet collar around his neck.

He
knew nothing had happened – he couldn’t imagine his father demanding
anything even if it were allowed – but that didn’t mean there weren’t
decade’s worth of jokes about sex and Service. Kasan was
surprised that Leero reacted so strongly to it.

“You’re
awfully red,” Ko said, pressed against Jolan. They both
leaned
forward a little more. “Anything interesting happen that you
should be telling us about?”

“Nothing happened,”
Leero ground out.

“Oh?”
Jolan looked him over and finally leaned back out of Leero’s
space. Kasan saw Ko’s hand trail over his mate’s chest and
they
exchanged a glance. Kasan had to turn away. He couldn’t help
feeling relieved that the man about to be ribbed so thoroughly was
Leero instead of himself.

“You’re very brave to fess
up,” Ko said, just loud enough that Kasan could still hear. “Most men
don’t like to admit when nothing
happens. Have you had this problem for very long?”

Jolan
took up the gauntlet before Leero could respond at all. “It
would
explain a lot, wouldn’t it?” Kasan could just imagine them nodding
sagely at each other. “Grumpy all the time, shoving all that
energy into training rather than other pursuits. All this
time,
and we never knew. How brave, to suffer in silence for so
long. You must be looking forward to when the heat hits and
your
nanites will correct that little problem.”

“Are you
done?” Leero’s voice was strained. Kasan knew the feeling.

“Not
by a long shot,” Jolan said happily, his voice nearly bubbling. “I am
going to enjoy your Service to the fullest, just possibly not as much
as father will. But for now…I’d really like to have some Chera root added to
my drink, Leero. Why don’t you go and fetch some for me in
the kitchens?”

Kasan
could imagine Jolan’s wide grin as easily as Leero’s flattened ears.
Unless his father had told him to return immediately, Leero was stuck
catering to whatever shit those idiots came up with until he was called
back. And it looked like they were in a mood to play, now
that
they’d been denied Kasan.

“Poor bastard,” he
murmured. Max
was quiet now, staring up at him. He pulled on the leash,
soft as
a butterfly testing a web’s thread. His eyebrows were drawn
together in the middle as he searched Kasan’s face, and Kasan smiled
slowly and hugged him closer. “It’s all right. Max
and
Kasan safe. Meet family.”

As positive as
he made it sound
to Max, it was still a trial to make it across the room. It
felt
as though everyone in the family made a comment as he passed. Kasan was
grateful he’d been summoned and had a reason to deny their thinly
veiled commands to join them at the cushions and pillows.

Although
maybe that would have been better, he thought, looking into the eyes of
the elders as he neared their table. The two matriarchs were seated
side-by-side and staring at him with cold glares that made an icy sweat
break out over his skin. Father’s three uncles, and Father
himself, were seated by them. While they looked a bit more amused, they
were not amused enough to make Kasan feel the least bit
comfortable.

“You wished to meet my
consort?” he asked
as he approached them. He knelt on a free cushion, settling
Max
on his lap, a comforting armor against their attentions.

Not
that it could keep him safe if they’d heard about the main-vid room.

Aunt
Nerin raised one eyebrow and glanced at her sister before growling
faintly. It was enough to have Kasan wishing he was stuck
doing
work on the dung heaps. It would be less painful to his
senses
than if the elders decided to have it out with him.

Nerin’s
sister placed a parchment-skinned hand on her older sibling’s arm and
nodded to Max, who was frozen in Kasan’s lap as he stared at
them. “The little one will not understand our irritation.”

She
smiled at his consort. “Max, I am Asha. I am
pleased to meet you, consort of my nephew’s most difficult son.”

Max
relaxed by a hair at the familiar words. “Pleased to meet
you,
Asha,” he said softly, testing his memory of the words.

“And
this is Nerin.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Nerin said,
her voice barely making it past a growl.

“Pleased
to meet you, Nerin,” Max said faintly. He gripped Kasan’s
leash
with white knuckles, rubbing the ribbon between his fingers and
coincidentally moving upward, drawing Kasan’s head down if he cared to
let it move.

Kasan had to smile as he
let himself be
drawn down until he was curled almost entirely over Max. His
consort blinked in surprise as Kasan blocked his sight of the rest of
the table, and Kasan couldn’t help kissing him once on the tip of his
blunt little nose. Max squirmed, staring at the upside down
face
of Kasan, and then he kissed Kasan’s forehead bird-quick as his eyes
slid to the side as though he couldn’t quite look at what he was
kissing.

Then he flushed and released the ribbon.
His hands
fidgeted in his lap. Seeing Aunt Asha soften as she watched Max, Kasan
knew he was going to be spared the worst of it. Aunt Nerin
would
probably find Max irritating – anything soft tended to offend her sense
of how the world should be. But Aunt Asha would put a damper
on
any fury that got out of hand, as long as she wasn’t too irritated
herself.

Which meant his consort was even saving him
from
getting his tailed chewed by the elders. Kasan would have to reward him
tonight with something special.

“Max hungry.
Food?” Max
looked up at him to get a positive nod. Kasan wished he could
figure out what was going on in the little one’s head, he thought,
handing him some marinated leaves he thought Max might enjoy.

Kyoru
stayed Kasan’s hand before he could get some for himself. “If
Max
agrees – and I’m sure he will – we’ll need to talk after the meal,
Kasan. About this morning and our curious lack of a news
packet.”

The fur on Kasan’s tail stood on end. Oh
damn.

Kyoru
nodded to Max. “I’m sure that you don’t want your little one
worried with this. Why don’t you start off his day with Zonta
right after first meal. You can find a way to explain the
situation properly so that he’ll agree to loan your Service to us,
can’t you? There’s a lot for you to do today. A lot. “

Kasan
flinched as the elders smiled at him almost cruelly. They knew. He
should have known they’d find out.

“I
believe you should start with doing a complete inventory of the
citadel’s military supply warehouse that holds our computer equipment,”
Aunt Nerin said.

Kasan swallowed heavily.
That would take
him days, not simply today’s Service, and he couldn’t say a damn word
about it. Aunt Nerin smiled at him with the sweetness of a sour grape
as she saw him nearly biting his tongue not to say anything.
Then
her eyes slid over to the table where his brothers sat laughing over
Leero, blissfully ignorant. “I believe you’ll have four young
men
joining in to help you, along with the entire morning staff of the
main-vid room, so it shouldn’t take more than a day.”

She
turned her glare back to him. “It will
not take more than a day. Understand?”

“Yes,
Aunt Nerin.” Max’s bottom shifted on Kasan’s lap and reminded Kasan
that once again, he was unlikely to get to touch his consort without
the heat driving him. It was becoming ridiculous.
How much
was it going to take for him to simply make love to Max without
something forcing it on both of them?

Aunt Nerin
stared at him
as though trying to find some fault with his answer. She
grunted
when he kept his eyes on Max and didn’t say another word.
Aunt
Asha continued the speech.

“Zonta will do well
enough with your
consort, Kasan. He’s always been a responsible young man and
he’s
gentle enough that he won’t scare the little one.”

“Like
that’s
an issue? The human needs to toughen up or he’ll be jumping
at
shadows for the rest of his life,” Aunt Nerin growled. Asha
tsked
at her.

“Give him time, Nerin.” She turned back to
Kasan.
“You’ll walk Max to Zonta’s room, settle him in, and then report to the
computer warehouse as quickly as possible after Firstmeal. And then
we’ll see what else we think may need to be done, once we get the
second packet tonight and determine the importance of what was missed.”
Her smile was soft, but it carried more threat than Aunt Nerin’s

Kasan’s
shoulders hunched along with his ears. “Yes, Aunt Asha.”

Max
looked nervous again, nibbling on the leaves and pouring himself a
large cup of water from one of the bundle of clean cups in the
middle. He glanced up at Kasan and whispered as Kyoru spoke
to
his aunts about his brothers.

“Kasan
safe?”

The warmth that spread across Kasan’s gut
surprised him in its intensity. “Kasan and
Max safe,” he murmured back, running his hand over Max’s head and down
his bare arm. Popping another blossom into Max’s mouth, he enjoyed the
way the man grumbled over it. Officially, he could have been
reprimanded for doing something like that, unasked, while in Service,
but Max didn’t know any better. And he
was the one who
would have to take him to task.

Leero
finally showed up, his hair dampened against his forehead from the heat
of the kitchens, and Kasan shared a sympathetic glance with
him.
The Lord King detached the leash’s end from the clasp and put it back
in his hand absently as Leero knelt next to him. Kasan wasn’t surprised
to see Leero flushing from the gesture. More color spread down his neck
as Kyoru ordered him to eat something.

“Even the
elders have
noticed how often you and Kasan miss Firstmeal when you start to work
on a project. It’s not healthy. Eat.” Kyoru pointed to a dark, sweet
smelling sausage again as Leero hesitated. Kasan wondered how many of
the guards would have paid to see their superior’s ears droop like
that.

Leero picked it up and chewed it
with painful slowness. He never had liked eating his
meat. Thank god Max didn’t –

“Kasan
eat…that,” Max suddenly said. Kasan looked down at him,
staring
as he saw Max looking from him to Kyoru and Leero. Max looked
up
at him again, his hand tight on the leash, his voice a little more
hesitant as he pointed to a floral dish that Kasan wasn’t all that fond
of during the normal course of things. “Kasan…eat?”

The
elders beamed in approval. Kyoru chuckled. “Learns fast, just
like you said. You’d better get to it, son. He’s in charge
today.”

Kasan
reached over and popped the unappetizing food into his mouth, trying to
swallow before his tongue could taste it. Max was watching
him
intently.

This might be a very long meal.

Firstmeal
had ended, the hallways finally cleared of people, when the guard Shoru
turned to the man watching the door with him.

“My
heat’s spiking. I’ve gotta go.”

The
other guard’s brown eyes narrowed, his ears flicking
irritably.
“You said that yesterday. And the day before that, too.”

“So
I’m as virile as a damn throwback. What the fuck do you care?”

“I
care because you always seem to ‘go into heat’ half-way through
shift. This is bullshit.”

“You saying I’m
a liar?”

The
other guard stared at him and gripped his spear tightly as he turned to
face him completely. “I’m saying that if this happens again tomorrow,
I’m reporting it.”

“Yeah, go ahead and do
that. See if I
give a fuck.” Shoru turned and left, stomping down the
hallway as
the man behind him started a request through the summoning box for
someone to replace Shoru. Stopping at his quarters, Shoru
sneered
at his mate as the man opened the door.

“You left it
long enough.” The other man’s voice was tight.

“Fuck
you. I’m here, aren’t I?”

Neither
of them said another word as they headed to the bed, disrobing as they
went. The sex was silent, perfunctory, and quick.
Shoru
didn’t move as his mate pushed off the bed the moment they were done
and began cleaning his skin as though he’d been contaminated.

Lying
on his back with flattened ears, sweat drying on his thighs, Shoru
pretended to be asleep as he watched his mate pull out new clothes. The
man dressed down in a pair of breeks and a collarless shirt with short
sleeves. He tied a small bundle that jingled with coins to
the
inside of his shirt and left the room with almost as much speed as
they’d had sex.

Shoru was up off the bed and
dressing as quickly as he could the moment the door close.

“Think
you’re so damn smart, you smarmy bastard,” he growled to
himself.
“See what you’ve been up to and then we’ll see who everyone thinks is
an asshole.”

Shoru slipped silently out
the door and
sprinted down the hallway. He peered around the corner in
time to
see his mate disappearing down another corridor. Keeping pace, Shoru
followed his mate out of the citadel and into the city surrounding it,
through the residences, then all the way past the merchant
sector. When the man started looking at bars in the pleasure
quarter, Shoru smiled nastily as he whispered to himself.

“Knew
you were a freaking deviant. See what that high-and-mighty
family
of yours thinks when they find out what you’re doing, huh?”

Shoru’s
mate finally walked into a small bar, the building squashed between two
inns instead of the alley that should have been there. Shoru
stepped in a minute after him, just in time to see him heading to the
back of the building, through a hallway labeled ‘privacy.’

“Pervert.
What the hell are you doing?” Shoru muttered. He walked through the
bar, ignoring the bartender’s eyes following him, and crept quietly
into the small hallway. There was a row of three rooms, each
just
big enough for a stool and a small screen, separated from the hall by
privacy curtains. Only one of them had the curtain pulled
closed.
Glancing around, Shoru let his claws come out – his one throwback trait
- and pried the edge of the seal away from the wall. He pressed his ear
to the break in the privacy field.

His
mate was
grumbling to himself, cursing as he rifled through something that
sounded papery and thin, and then Shoru could hear the clicking of
buttons, and finally his mate started talking.

“You
wanted to talk to me?”

The voice replying was too
low to be heard outside the stall.

“I
thought we didn’t want him. No, we didn’t get the news this
morning. Some kind of glitch.” A pause as he listened, and
then
Shoru’s mate laughed shortly. “Well shit, no wonder then.
Tonight’s damn soon, though. I don’t know if I can arrange
it.”

The
sounds of the bar trickled down the hallway and Shoru cupped his hands
around his ear, trying to keep any sound from getting into the booth
and giving him away.

“Yes, it’s large enough to
fit through,
but they’re fucking each other constantly. I don’t know when
the
hell we’re going to get him alone. I know it’s time
sensitive, dammit! Don’t blame me for this shit! If Shovak had used his
damn brain, we’d already have him.”

Shoru’s
free hand rubbed nervously at the pommel of a dagger tucked into the
waistband of his pants. His other ear flicked wildly as he continued to
listen.

“Now…you don’t have to do that.” His mate’s
voice
wavered nervously. “I didn’t say I couldn’t get him
in. You
know you can count on me; it’s just going to be tricky.”

With
a
loud swallow, he whispered. “The main tunnel, then, yeah.
We’ll
vid you when we’ve got him.” The soft humming of the screen
went
dead, and Shoru heard his mate cursing up a blue streak.

That
was all he needed.

Shoru
ripped open the privacy curtain with a vicious grin, his dagger
out. “You fucker, you are so fucking dead, now. I
don’t
know what the hell you’re doing, but I bet the elders will kick your
bitchy, pathetic ass if you’ve got anything to do with Shovak, you-“

Shoru’s
eyes went wide as his mate pulled a small laser pistol and aimed it at
him with cold eyes.

“I
may not be able to kill you, Shoru, but all I need is a hole to fuck
for the next few years until the heat’s done. That leaves me
with
a hell of a lot of body parts that aren’t really all that necessary.
Including your tongue.” Shoru didn’t move. “Drop it.”

There
was
a muffled clatter as Shoru’s dagger hit the ground. “You are such a
fucking bastard. Someday they’re all going to see it, too,
you
piece of shit.”

“I doubt you’ll be able to enjoy
it,” his mate
sneered, and gestured him out into the hallway. Shoru went
with a
snarl. The bartender watched them leave as silently as he’d watched
them enter, and then went back to pouring drinks.